


Episode 1-03 - "Unlikely Outcomes"

by stgjr



Series: Undiscovered Frontier Season 1 - "Seeking the Past" [3]
Category: Multi-Fandom, crossovers - Fandom
Genre: Crossover, Gen, Multiple Crossovers, Multiverse, Space Opera
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-09
Updated: 2017-03-10
Packaged: 2018-10-01 16:37:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 15,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10194083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stgjr/pseuds/stgjr
Summary: An attack on an Alliance colony leads the Aurora crew into an unlikely alliance with a dangerous new adversary.





	1. Chapter 1

**Teaser**  
  
  
  
 _Ship's Log: 6 March 2641; ASV Aurora. Captain Robert Dale recording. The_ Aurora _has departed from the Yaga System of Universe S4W8 following a successful first contact mission with a newly-discovered alien race, the Phosako. We are en route to the vicinity of the Krellan Nebula to support a scientific survey mission of the surrounding systems. This is much to the pleasure of the ship's Science Officer, who regards it as an appropriate birthday gift from Command._  
  
The _Aurora_ 's "Lookout" crew lounge, set into the ship's bow with transparent aluminium windows looking out into space, was filled with applause as a smiling Caterina Delgado blew with all her might and extinguished the "2" and "1" shaped candles that were side by side in the middle of the cake. The birthday girl was wearing a sleeveless pink and purple trimmed shirt with "BIRTHDAY GIRL!" written on the front, with a pink skirt that matched the shirt. After the candles were out everyone began to hand her gifts. The first, from Zack, was a bright purple shirt with red lettering saying, "MAKE WAY FOR SCIENCE!" and the image of a figure rushing with a bubbling beaker in their hands.  
  
Further away, the festivities were being witnessed by two of the crew members who were not quite part of the circle. Montgomery Scott took a drink from a shotglass of Aldebaran whiskey and offered the bottle to his companion. Jarod shook his head and hefted a box. "I'm back on duty as soon as the party's over," he reminded Scotty.  
  
"Aye. I was just hoping tae share a quick drink with ye." Scotty smiled as a happy squee came from Caterina upon reception of another gift, a cartoonish looking character figurine, this courtesy of Julia. She put her arms around the taller blonde woman's neck in a hug of gratitude. "So, what have ye picked for th' birthday lass?"  
  
Jarod grinned. "A database comparing astrography in the most studied universes so far." He looked over at Scotty. "And you?"  
  
"It took some doin', but I managed tae find th' complete log that Mister Spock wrote durin' our first five year mission on th' _Enterprise_."  
  
"Good choice," Jarod agreed. "So going to join me in giving the gifts out now or...?"  
  
"I think I'll let th' lass and her friends finish first." Scotty continued to watch as Barnes gave a gift, although he couldn't see what it was. "I suppose my gift is a wee bit selfish. I keep thinkin' of when I was young and my time on th' _Enterprise_. And I know I'll nae be havin' somethin' like that again."  
  
"They do their best to make everyone else feel a part of the family." Jarod considered his own unfinished coffee. "But even Lucy is a little distant compared to the seven of them together. They're a group in of themselves."  
  
"Aye. But that's nae a problem. It's always hard, tryin' tae fit in with a group like that, when they've been close for so long. But they're tryin' their best tae be open with the rest of us." Scotty took another drink. "It was different for ye, wasn't it?"  
  
"Yeah." Jarod took a swig of coffee. "Sometimes I forget how long it's been since I was on my own."  
  
"Aye?"  
  
"And..." Jarod smiled slightly and looked at the Scotsman. "I don't think I ever want to go back to that. I'm not giving up on finding out more about my family, but there's nothing on Earth for me compared to this."  
  
A figure stepped up to him. He was as old as Scotty, if not older, with wrinkled light skin and a balding head of silver hair. A wide smile was already on his face. "Mister Jarod, Mister Scott," he said in a thick German accent. "Anything else?"  
  
"Nae a thing more for me, Mister Hargert," Scotty replied. "I've had my fill."  
  
"More coffee would be fine." Jarod lifted the cup up to the lounge host so he could fill it from the pot he was carrying. "I've always wondered, why did you ask to become a lounge attendant on this ship? It's dangerous work."  
  
"Yes. But I enjoy giving aid and comfort to the young, so what is danger against fulfilling the calling of one's heart?," Hargert answered. "And you are all so very young." He turned his head to Scotty. "Even you, Mister Scott, in your own way. Did you like that Scotch I had delivered?"  
  
"Aye, it hit th' spot. Ye know yer drinks, Mister Hargert."  
  
"That is good to hear. I do my best to make sure..."  
  
The ship's PA system came alive, with Meridina's voice on the other end. " _Bridge to Captain Dale. We are receiving a distress signal from the colony on Grodni III._ "  
  
Robert stood up from his seat at the table and slapped the multidevice on his wrist. "Set course and engage at maximum warp. Put the ship on Code Yellow."  
  
"That's our cue," Jarod said, standing to his feet.  
  
Running lights in the corridors and throughout the lounge shifted to yellow, warning the crew that the ship was on standby alert for combat and to be ready to assume battle stations. There was a sad look on Caterina's face as she was forced to set aside the half-eaten slice of her birthday cake and join the others in rushing out. Hargert watched the lounge empty and sighed. "Such horrible timing," he murmured before working to put the cake up and gather Caterina's presents.  
  
  
  
 **Undiscovered Frontier  
 _"Unlikely Outcomes"_**  
  
  
  
The _Aurora_ came out of warp near Grodni III. The ship moved toward the planet quickly, taking up a parabolic course to begin a high orbit.  
  
"I've never seen a warp trail like this before," Jarod noted. "Whoever is responsible for the attack is long gone, though."  
  
"Bring up the colony."  
  
Several moments later a battered man, of middle age with graying dark hair, appeared on the screen. " _This is Administrator Haldwell of the Grodni III colony. They hit our sensor dish in the first strike... I can't make out who you are._ "  
  
"This is Captain Robert Dale, _Starship Aurora_ ," Robert replied. "We picked up your distress call and got here as quickly as we could. What is your status?"  
  
" _At least a hundred dead, a few thousand injured. They didn't have transporters, but they had heavy weapons and they bombed the colony so badly...._ "  
  
"We'll dispatch medical teams immediately." Robert didn't need to glance to see Julia was already getting word to Leo to send in medics. "I can use all of the data on this attack you can provide."  
  
" _I'll have reports put together and transmitted immediately._ "  
  
  
  
  
Several hours later the command crew of the _Aurora_ was assembled in their conference room with the understandable exception of Leo. The image of a winged space vessel with green weapons fire erupting from a bow mount appeared on the screen. "It looks like the pirate force was a carrier vessel and two ships of this size, capable of entering atmospheres," Jarod explained. "The attack only lasted for five minutes from the first shot to their warp egress from the system."  
  
"What did they take?", Julia asked.  
  
"A bit of everything." Jarod looked at a list. "Water condensers, solar panels, raw replicator stock, electronic equipment from the trashed sensor dish, just about anything you can think of."  
  
"They weren't after anything in particular," Meridina noted. "This was a raid for raw materials. Undoubtedly for their base and space vessels."  
  
"The carrier, did it launch any fighters?"  
  
"Yes. We didn't get any shots of them, unfortunately, only a few camera captures that were too blurry to be of use."  
  
"Then we cannot determine their performance profile?" The question came from Lieutenant Commander Patrice Laurent, a Central African from New Liberty Colony who acted as the ship's CAG. "I have no information to give my pilots?"  
  
"I'm afraid not," Jarod confirmed.  
  
"Do you think we could track them?", Robert asked. "If we can hunt them down..."  
  
"The warp trail is too faint, I'm guessing they use a buffer system to encourage it to degrade and prevent tracking." Jarod reached down and hit a button. "But we may have something. Cat?"  
  
Caterina stood. She blushed and nervously pressed her hands against the sides of her black uniform skirt - a skirt that ended just above the knees - before she walked up to Jarod and pressed a button. A sensor reading of pulsing yellows and whites and oranges showed up. "The warp signature that Grodni III's sensors picked up when the ships warped in was unlike anything we've seen. The warp field has a slight instability to it."  
  
"Drive problems?", Barnes asked, leaning forward to see the image.  
  
"No, the pattern is too regular. It's... it's more like a pulse than an instability, some kind of intermittent fluctuation in the energy source maintaining the ship's warp field. It's not enough to cause the field to collapse."  
  
"What the hell could cause that, a fault in the plasma conduits? Maybe the anti-matter feed?"  
  
"Well, I'll be...."  
  
Everyone looked to Scotty, who was looking with some amazement at the display. "Lad, ye haven't seen such a thing before because naebody could be daft enough tae build one," Scotty explained. "It's a bloody anti-matter pulse drive."  
  
The stares from the more technically astute in the room were profound. "But... I mean, I thought that in those kinds of reactors the stream had to be continuous?", Caterina said, confused. "How can something like that work?"  
  
"Dependin' on who built her, decently or not well at all," Scotty answered. "Th' pulse drive hasn't been tried in centuries. It was an auld an' failed engine type, th' Klingons experimented with 'em back in th' early 23rd Century... my universe, that is."  
  
"What's the significance?", Robert asked. "I mean, is it too brute force or overly sophisticated or what?"  
  
"Oh, it's both, sir. Havin' a pulse drive lets ye trim down on th' coolant systems since ye're lettin' your warp core have a wee bit of downtime." Scotty hovered a finger over the sensor reading. "That's where th' fluctuations come from. And ye've probably noticed it leaves a unique signature in subspace from th' warp field's intensity risin' and fallin', even on th' level of milliseconds."  
  
Julia nodded in understanding. "So it lets a ship skimp on coolant system mass. They can put a bigger engine in."  
  
"Aye. But she's got her own problems. The pulse does make it a wee bit easier tae deal with containment loss in th' reaction chamber, but ye've got tae maintain th' pulse rate just right or ye either overheat yer warp core or ye lose your warp field. Yer engineers have tae be nearly perfect, or ye need tae use precision computer automation of th' anti-matter induction system, and that's takin' a lot of risk. I cannae imagine why anyone would want tae build a design like that. It's tae bloody complex in all th' wrong places. Th' Klingons found that out th' hard way."  
  
"Maybe it's their way of saying they're such good engineers that they can make it work well," Zack noted.  
  
"Do you think you can find this signature on long range sensors, Cat?", Julia asked.  
  
"Well, now that I know what I'm looking for.... yeah."  
  
"Good. Because we're going to hunt them down," Robert declared.  
  
"As much as we want to deal with the pirates, we can't leave Grodni III unprotected," Meridina pointed out.  
  
"Thankfully Admiral Lithgon has already responded, the _Neptune_ and the _Ostfriesland_ are en route and expected to be here in a day," Robert informed them. "In the meantime, we can keep _Koenig_ in orbit to watch things while we begin the search."  
  
"Just give the word, Rob," Zack said happily.  
  
"It's given. Let's not give the pirates any more time to find more targets. We find them, we hit them where it hurts, we come home." Robert stood. "Let's get this done."  
  
  
  
  
The _Koenig_ slid out of her berth on the _Aurora_ 's back. The vessel shimmered out of view as she moved into orbit, her cloaking device engaged. A trio of _Hudson_ -class attack runabouts followed _Koenig_ out and took up defensive positions around the planet.  
  
On the bridge of the _Aurora_ , there was the slightest hint of a tremor as the ship's massive warp drive activated and sent the _Aurora_ racing on near maximum speed.  
  
At the sensor station, Caterina was busy examining the warp trail while looking for the telltalse signs of an anti-matter pulse drive in operation in the distance. She stayed fixated, enjoying as always the gentle shifting of subspace as displayed on her monitor. She tapped a direct comm line button on her console. "Science to Engineering."  
  
" _Aye, lass?_ "  
  
"The port subspace sensor is off a bit. Can you..."  
  
" _I'm sendin' a team now._ "  
  
"Thanks. And... thanks for the gift, Scotty," Caterina added, smiling. "I'm going to spend hours every day going over Spock's logs."  
  
" _Ye're welcome, lass_."  
  
  
  
  
With her security teams and the Marines ready, Meridina was back in her office. Commander Kane, the head of the ship's Marine contingent, sat quietly, his dirty blond hair cut to fuzz on his head. "So we board and you guard?"  
  
"Yes." Meridina looked over her monitor, verifying security reports from across the ship. "I'll send Lieutenant Draynal as necessary to...."  
  
When she was silent for several moments, Kane asked, "Commander?"  
  
"I apologize. There is a slight security issue that I must address." She reached for the ship intercom. "Ensign Liton, I require an update. There is an unauthorized access attempt on the aft primary core database."  
  
After several moments she got a reply. " _Sir? I'm not showing anything on my board._ "  
  
"How curious, for I am. I want all access points double-checked immediately. And I will be implementing a code change."  
  
" _Of course sir. I... I'm sorry if something slipped by, but I'm looking at the board..._ "  
  
"Do not concern yourself, Ensign, simply get it done." Meridina drew in a breath.  
  
"Problems, ma'am?", Kane asked.  
  
"A matter that can be dealt with," Meridina assured him, even if she was feeling a sudden sense of unease. "I believe we still have the exercise scheduling for next week to sort out. It is best not to procrastinate."  
  
  
  
  
Robert shifted uncomfortably in his chair, drawing the notice of Julia. "I hate waiting," he murmured to her. "We may need to allow the shift change if we don't find anything soon."  
  
"Yeah." Julia looked over and tapped a couple of keys on her display. "We'll have to make it up to Cat, you know."  
  
"Yeah. She deserves an uninterrupted birthday party." Robert grinned slightly. "Especially if she finds those pirates."  
  
"I'm trying," Caterina protested. "This warp trail is just so faint, it's hard to find it."  
  
"You can do it," Angel encouraged. "Then I can shoot at them."  
  
"Yeah, as always."  
  
"I just hope we don't find them during Gamma shift," Julia muttered. "I could use a good...."  
  
"I've got something!", Cat called out. She sat up straight. "I have a subspace signature on long range sensors."  
  
"Is it what we're looking for?"  
  
"I'm not sure. It doesn't match precisely." Caterina keyed her intercom. "Scotty, can you look at this? I'm relaying it to your systems display."  
  
Several seconds passed. " _She's got more power than our pirates._ "  
  
"But it is an anti-matter pulse drive," Barnes concurred from his Engineering Status station.  
  
"I'm picking up sensor emissions from the other signature, I think they're scanning us."  
  
"Maintain Code Yellow. Nick, plot in an intercept course."  
  
"Course plotted."  
  
"I guess they're neighbors," Julia muttered. "Any matches on that drive signature?"  
  
"I doubt it," Caterina said. "But we can see...."  
  
Jarod looked up from Ops. "I have a match on the drive signature from the Phosako recognition charts we were given. They call them... well, something negative, that I can say for sure."  
  
"Let me know when we're in visual range."  
  
"At current warp velocity we're still.... okay, they're on an intercept course now," Jarod reported. "I'm picking up an increase in their energy signature, I think they're raising shields and arming weapons."  
  
"Code Red," Robert ordered. Alert klaxons sounded for several seconds. "Time to intercept?"  
  
"They're still five minutes from weapons range," Jarod reported. "But I'll have a visual for you... now."  
  
"Put it on."  
  
The gunmetal gray ship that appeared seemed to have a similar two-hull layout to the _Aurora_ and other starship designs from some universes. But it had no curves to it, simply harsh angles, with a red-lit deflector dish cut into the lower hull where it seemed to slant upward into the primary hull. "Slant" was the right word; instead of a clear neck like on some Federation designs or the beam distinction that set the _Aurora_ 's primary hull apart from its secondary hull, the two hulls seemed to be connected by a slightly sloped neck that formed a slant shape between the bow and aft. Only very subtle curves were cut from the harsh angles at the bow of the ship, giving it the look of a smoothed box. Weapon emplacements were prominent on several parts of the hull, as was what looked to be a missile cell in addition to a torpedo launcher. Parallel to the lower hull past the bottom of the slant shape were the warp nacelles, lifted enough to have clearance over the lower hull. The Bussard ramscoops were a bright blue with the warp field generators pulsing faintly in vibrant red.  
  
"Rob...." Julia sounded like she lost her voice. "On the bow, do you see that insignia...?"  
  
His eyes tracked toward the bow and to the emblem painted on the dorsal edge of the bow hull. Robert blinked, a mixture of surprise and dread in his gut as he recognized the insignia emblazoned on the warship's hull. "Is that actually a...?!"  
  
"Hail coming in," Jarod said, interrupting the question. "Putting them on speaker."  
  
" _This is the cruiser_ Reich's Glory _! You have violated the territory of the Third Reich! In the name of the Fuehrer I order you to withdraw!_ "  
  
"You've got to be Goddamned kidding me," Barnes muttered.  
  
"Jarod, send a priority subspace message to Admiral Lithgon on the _Liberty_ ," Robert said, his voice full of tension. "Show him this image. And inform him that I am about to make contact."  
  
Jarod nodded stiffly. "Message away."  
  
"I'll lock weapons on their engines," Angel said, her voice harsh. "We'll blow those bastards...."  
  
"Belay that," Robert said. "Mister Jarod, put me on."  
  
"You're actually going to _talk to them?_ ", Angel said, incredulous.  
  
"We know they're not the pirates. We're not out here to fight them." Robert waited for Jarod to nod and stood. He put hishands at the small of his back, helping him to avoid the temptation to shift his posture. "Reich cruiser, this is Captain Robert Dale of the Alliance _Starship Aurora_ , representing the United Alliance of Systems. We have been in pursuit of a pirate vessel that attacked one of our colonies. No infringement of your territory was intended. If you would be so kind as to inform us of where your territory terminates..."  
  
After a moment the screen shifted. The man who appeared was gaunt and thinly built, with piercing brown eyes to go with dark brown hair. His gray uniform... well, with some exceptions it looked like it had come out of a World War II movie or documentary. " _I am_ Kapitan-des-Raumes _Joachim Lamper of the cruiser_ Reich's Glory _. I accept your explanation and a detailed map will be provided to you on the Reich's holdings in this cluster._ " The figure drew in a breath. " _I did not expect to find the Remnants fielding such an.. impressive starship._ "  
  
"I can safely say we are not these Remnants you speak of, Captain," Robert replied. "If I might ask... your engine systems are similar to a pirate vessel that struck at our colony. You wouldn't happen to be aware of such in this region?"  
  
Lamper scowled visibly. " _There are pirates in the nebula that have been an annoyance to the Reich in the past months, they took one of our ships through trickery._ " Lamper stood silent for a moment. " _It would seem we have a common foe, Captain. Might I have the pleasure of further knowledge of your people? We may find cooperation to be our best way of dealing with these..._ schwein."  
  
"You're rather quick to suggest cooperation, Captain Lamper. From what I know of your Reich, I can't imagine it's common for you."  
  
" _Indeed not. But I know when I am possibly outmatched, Captain Dale. And I am not fool enough to turn down aid in ending a pirate that has annoyed Reich transport in this sector. I believe your violation of Reich space can be easily overlooked in the name of cooperation._ "  
  
"I see." Robert looked around and noticed the displeased and generally uneasy looks on everyone's faces. "We'll begin warping back to beyond your frontier. I'll let you know within the standard hour of my decision on your proposal. Dale out."  
  
The Nazi captain nodded and disappeared from the screen, replaced by his nasty looking vessel.  
  
"You've got to be kidding me, Rob," Barnes grumbled. "You're not going to actually...?!"  
  
"My granddad would probably rise from the grave and jump universes to whup my ass if he could," Robert answered. "But right now... I'm thinking it might be the smartest choice."  
  
"Are you crazy, Robert?!", Angel shouted. "They're flipping Nazis for Christ's sake!"  
  
"I know, dammit." Robert stood. "I'm going to go consult Lithgon. In the meantime, pull us back toward whatever frontier Captain Lamper has marked."  
  
"It looks like their claim stops halfway across the Krellan Nebula," Locarno remarked. "I'll put us half a light year on the other side and bring us to a stop."  
  
"Good. Now, if you excuse me... I'm going to be the bearer of bad news."  
  
  
  
  
With fifteen minutes left until they were to hail the _Reich's Glory_ with an answer, Robert had the command staff assembled in the conference room again with Lithgon and Zack on two different screens. " _I'll relay your report to Command immediately_." Lithgon had an accent that seemed almost English but not quite. He was cleanshaven and possessed a strong jaw, with blue eyes and graying dark hair. " _For the time being, our primary concern is this pirate force. If they're using the nebula to maintain a base, going in and finding them will be critical to securing our colonies in S4W8._ "  
  
"We're investigating ways to map the nebula and see if we can determine their likely location, but the nebula is one of the largest we've got on record," Robert noted. "Captain Lamper's people have had more time to survey this one."  
  
" _Yes._ " Lithgon frowned. " _Hard to imagine... everyone I've talked to who has studied the Second World War remarked on the sheer impossibility of Nazi Germany prevailing over the enemies it made._ "  
  
"I suppose it could be a 'neo-Nazi' empire," Caterina remarked.  
  
"No, you heard Lamper's challenge. He referred to them as the _Third_ Reich, not any higher number," Julia reminded her.  
  
Jarod looked at the screen. "Actually, Admiral, it is more accurate to say that their victory was extremely unlikely."  
  
" _And yet they're here._ "  
  
"Well... if you say they had a million to one odds of winning, that means there are 999,999 universes where they lost... and precisely one where they won. It's like if you flipped a coin several hundred times and each time it landed on heads. Extremely unlikely to the point of practical impossibility... but not _mathematically_ impossible."  
  
" _An interesting analogy, Mister Jarod. I would have compared it to someone repeatedly rolling snake eyes._ " Lithgon drew in a breath and looked to Robert. " _Do you trust them?_ "  
  
"Not at all. But I do trust that they're not going to turn on us when there's still so much they don't know about us," Robert pointed out. "I think Lamper's offer of cooperation against the pirates is genuine."  
  
" _Then you may act on that thought. I'm going to begin lobbying Command to give me a fleet, in the meantime. Lithgon out._ "  
  
" _As soon as_ Neptune _arrives I can rendezvous with you at the nebula_ ," Zack said.  
  
"No." Robert shook his head. "I have a different idea."  
  
  
  
  
Lamper remained still on the screen as Robert informed him of his decision. " _I am pleased to see you are a reasonable man, Captain. Clearly you are not as rabid as a Remnant. Do your people happen to possess matter transmission technology?_ "  
  
"Yes, we do." Robert had already considered with Lithgon what to not bring up and what was safe to mention; transporter technology was not on the restricted list.  
  
" _Good. My officers and I await your signal to transport over._ " Lamper nodded and disappeared from the screen.  
  
"Guess who's coming to dinner?"  
  
All eyes turned to where Leo was seated back at one of the computer terminals. He looked at them and smirked. "I'm black. I'm _allowed_."  
  
Robert didn't react to that. He stood up and self-consciously straightened his uniform jacket. "I'm going to meet our guests face-to-face with Meridina. We'll see the rest of you in the conference room."  
  
  
  
  
A Dorei crewman, teal skinned with blue spots and short blue hair, was manning Transporter Station 1 when Robert got to it with Meridina at his side. He nodded and the Dorei immediately went to work, signaling readiness to receive a transporter signal.  
  
Moments later four columns of white light coalesced on the transporter pad. When they finished, Robert took a moment to look them over. He recognized Lamper of course, and two younger men were in the same gray uniforms as he was, one a brown-haired gentleman and the other blond. And the fourth...  
  
He was also blond, with cold blue eyes, the spitting image of a Nazi of the movies and art Robert had taken in as a child... which fit uncomfortably well with his black uniform. The lapel bore two lightning bolt insignia twisted in just a way to resemble "S"s and his belt had a skull with crossbones.  
  
 _Of course. They have SS._ Robert took a breath and forced down the roiling sensation of wrongness in his gut. He stepped forward and extended a hand. He was thankful that he could recall his grandmother's German lessons enough to say, "Captain Lamper, welcome to the _Aurora_ ", in that language.  
  
Lamper considered his extended hand for a moment. A small smile crossed his face and he extended his own gloved hand to take Robert's for a handshake. "Captain Dale, you speak German?"  
  
"My grandmother taught me as a child," Robert confirmed for them. He believed it better not to mention that she had been a "war bride", meeting his grandfather when Grandpa Allen had been on occupation duty in post-war Germany in the 1940s. "I wanted to be a good host."  
  
Lamper nodded amiably. "You speak your grandmother's tongue very well, Captain. Do remember me to her."  
  
Robert was not about to show the feelings he had over his grandmother's death so many years ago. "I'm afraid I cannot. She passed when I was still a youth."  
  
"Ah." Lamper nodded slowly. "Then my condolences, Captain." He looked to his men. "Allow me to introduce some of my senior officers. _Korvettenkapitän_ Hans Buhle, one of my shift commanders, and my Tactical Officer _Kapitänleutnant_ Peter Weigle." The SS man gave a pointed look to Lamper, irritation oozing from his expression. Lamper barely seemed to acknowledge it. "And the head of my cruiser's SS detachment, _Sturmbannführer_ Erik Fassbinder."  
  
"Gentlemen," Robert said with amiability... very forced amiability, but still that. "My security chief, Lieutenant Commander Meridina."  
  
Meridina nodded stiffly. She was the one member of the command staff who would have no preconceptions about their guests and showed no irritation at their presence.  
  
"You allow _women_ to serve?", Fassbinder remarked with incredulity.  
  
"The Allied Systems do not discriminate when it comes to those who wish to serve the Alliance," Robert noted.  
  
"And aliens too," Fassbinder said, as if ignoring him, and focusing his intention on the Dorei crewman at the transporter. "Did your people conquer his homeword?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Hrm. A pity, I might have had more respect if your Alliance put the _untermensch_ in their place. It is no wonder that a few drops of Aryan blood qualified you to command this ship, then."  
  
Robert leveled a glare at the SS man. "We should get going," he said, ignoring the impulse to say what was on his mind. "My command staff is waiting."  
  
  
  
  
They arrived in due time at the conferece room, many of the senior staff present with Locarno manning the bridge. The four Reich officers looked over the command crew studiously. _Kaleun_ Weigle's eyes were the first to move toward Julia, causing him to show a soft smile. Fassbinder made a "harumph" sound as Robert introduced her as his First Officer. "A fine Aryan specimen should be at home breeding for the Race," he scolded.  
  
"I would not mind such duty," Weigle murmured.  
  
"I'm not a brood mare," Julia said icily, her green eyes full of anger.  
  
The four officers stared at her incredulously. "You also speak German?", Lamper asked.  
  
"No," Robert replied. "We have auto-translators. They can understand you."  
  
Another small grin crossed Lamper's face and he looked at Robert with an amused expression. "Interesting."  
  
"We can give you external translation systems to fit on your ears for this conversation," Robert continued.  
  
"I am actually fairly fluent in English myself, Captain," Lamper said in that language. "It is a trading language in the Reich's British and American subordinated provinces."  
  
"I see." Robert looked at him calmly, ignoring the very real revulsion he felt at the implications of what Lamper said. "And your officers?"  
  
"We speak passable English," Buhle confirmed. "Except for...."  
  
"I have no need to speak non-Aryan tongues," Fassbinder insisted. "So I shall take one of your systems."  
  
Robert handed him an earpiece from a receptacle on the wall and went to his chair. "You may take seats."  
  
Fassbinder frowned as he saw his seat would him put him across from Angel, with Cat and Leo at her sides. As he sat, he muttered, "It is a shame that so much of your crew is _untermenschen_ , Captain. It will make this mission all the more difficult..."  
  
"Captain Lamper, if the _Sturmbannführer_ insults my staff and crew one more time, I'm going to instruct Lieutenant Delgado to drag him back to the transporters to be returned to your ship. By any means she deems necessary."  
  
The grin on Angel's face was almost sadistic as she directed it at Fassbinder.  
  
"You are a representative of the Fuehrer, Fassbinder, act like it," Lamper growled.  
  
The SS man frowned at Lemper before looking past him to Robert. "Captain Dale, your point is made. I would hate for there to be any trouble between your Alliance and the Reich." He put his gloved hands together on the table. "If I may ask, Captain, when do you intend to share the origins of your Alliance? The Remnants are too scattered and weak to have built such a vessel."  
  
"We are not of your Remnants," Robert answered, though he wasn't about to say just who....  
  
"Of course you are not." Fassbinder smirked. "You are, after all, from another universe or timeline, yes?"  
  
Robert's mouth hung open, his next word freezing in his throat. The crew all focused on Fassbinder.... as did his compatriots. "I beg your pardon?", Robert finally managed to say.  
  
"Oh, Captain, please, let us be honest," Fassbinder continued. "The Gestapo and the SS have an amiable working relationship, and we had already determined your origins from our... careful probing of your new colonies. Your people are from another universe, or multiple such universes, and use some form of wormhole-based drive system to travel between them, yes?"  
  
For the briefest moment Robert thought of denying it... but he didn't think the deception would work and it would only undermine the situation further. Additionally, from the look on Lamper's face, Robert suspected the last thing he wanted was to give the two men a common ground of facing his own deception. "Yes. The Allied Systems have interuniversal drive."  
  
Fassbinder smiled evilly. Or so Robert saw the smile; it was certainly a smug, self-satisfied smile from a man who considered himself the pinnacle of humanity.  
  
Lamper did not look nearly as satisfied. He looked intently at Fassbinder. "My reports from the _Abwehr_ make no mention of this. How long has the SS been hiding such critical information from the OKW?!"  
  
"The information was deemed too important to be disseminated until necessary, Captain," Fassbinder explained calmly. "The Fuehrer ordered the highest secrecy. Only the SS officers of the Krellan Nebula Division were informed of their existence."  
  
Lamper and the others were clearly displeased, but Lamper was quick to bite down his irritation. "I apologize for the diversion, Captain. I believe we had practical issues to discuss?"  
  
"Yes. You've been in contact with the nebula longer, you know it better," Robert explained. "If we had your data and combine it with our determination of the pirates' courses, we could find whatever base or facility they're using."  
  
"A reasonable plan," Lamper agreed. "The data will be provided. We should discuss our vessels' rough capabilities as well, to make the coming battle more manageable."  
  
Robert nodded. "Agreed."  
  
  
  
  
The resulting discussion was not as productive as it could have been; Robert was not about to divulge everything about the _Aurora_ 's defensive capabilities, and neither Lamper nor Fassbinder were quick to do the same for their ship, confirming only that it was considered the equivalent of a heavy cruiser - or rather a heavier light cruiser - and that its class name was _Sedan_ -class. Progress was made solely in examinations of the nebula itself, with data from the _Reich's Glory_ being transmitted to Caterina (with extensive computer protection protocols having already been enabled) for analysis.  
  
The conference room table's holo-projector now showed a layout of the nebula, with the _Aurora_ 's long range scans supplementing the astrographical data provided. The nebula pulsed red and blue over everyone's faces. Caterina pressed the controls to direct markers and to show what she could reconstruct of the raiders' course on their end. Lamper was quick to authorize similar records from his own side. The lines did not converge exactly, but they did indicate a specific area.  
  
"Section D-10-C of the Krellan Nebula is..is a rough convergent point for all known raider activity," Caterina pointed out, her tripping on her words prompted by her shyness and reluctance to be the center of attention. "The nebula's gases distort the drive, uh, drive tails and give us a zone of error, but given the central location this would be a good place to hide."  
  
"Ye cannae warp that deep intae a nebula either, there's nae tellin' what ye could run into."  
  
"I concur," _Kaleun_ Weigle said to Lamper. "I would place a base there myself if we were seeking to use the nebula. It gives the defender time to detect incoming vessels."  
  
"And all of the gases and radiation mean no cloaks," Barnes added.  
  
Julia shook her head. "So we search that cube of area? It could take days."  
  
"Weeks for us." This was from Buhle.  
  
"Well, unless we fine-tune sensors," Caterina pointed out. "I've had a few ideas on that..."  
  
Lamper shook his head. "The Reich has attempted such before, it was not successful. The nebula is too dense, it interferes with everything, even subspace."  
  
"Only the lower bands of subspace, though," Cat replied to him. "If we focus our scanning on higher bands, we might find active warp cores or other signs of activity. And we can use probes to widen the search areas."  
  
"And you believe you can succeed where fine Aryan minds have failed, Lieutenant?", Fassbinder asked with a smirk.  
  
Caterina was not hostile in reply so much as having her usual shyness aggravated by her discomfort with Fassbinder and the others. "Well... uh... yes, yes I can. Our sensor systems are very, uh, sophisticated, and... and finetuning our sensors for the Badlands back in S5T3 showed me a few more tricks."  
  
"S5T3 being....?"  
  
"Another universe, Captain Lamper," Caterina said. "We use an, uh, an algorithm system to denote uni...universes for our drives."  
  
"Ah." Lamper nodded to her. "I see you have put a lot of thought into this, Lieutenant. Very commendable work." He ignored the annoyed look from Fassbinder. "My officers will be instructed to accept your protocols and direction on our scans."  
  
Fassbinder visibly scowled at that while Cat cracked a thin smile before returning to her seat.  
  
"That leaves dealing with the pirates."  
  
"Yes, but for the time being we should get started on the search." Robert looked to Lamper. "It will take us several hours to get to the target area, Captain. I think we should get a good night's sleep and meet again tomorrow."  
  
"Agreed, Captain."


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An attack on an Alliance colony leads the Aurora crew into an unlikely alliance with a dangerous new adversary.

  
Years of service made it impossible for Scotty to sleep past 0600, and as a result he was in Engineering at 0620 sharp to get a report from the Gamma Shift engineers. Sensor modifications had been finished, warp field harmonics streamlined, and the ship's armor-repair systems quadruple-checked.  
  
From there it was on to breakfast in the crew lounge (Scotty not particularly caring for the nickname of "Lookout"). Hargert was quick to attend to him while preparing for Gamma Shift's post-watch dinner meal. After a proper breakfast was laid out it was time to enjoy it while reading the morning reports on his data tablet. Occasionally Scotty peaked out to see the gasses of the Krellan Nebula swirling and shifting through the window, blue highlights to a red sky creating a vista that reminded him too much of Mutara Nebula.  
  
"Good morning, Scotty." Jarod slipped into the chair beside him, his breakfast of eggs and replicated sausage links with a bowl of wheat cereal and blueberries in milk on his tray. He set down a cup of coffee and picked up his own tablet. "I see Lieutenant Nesay got those sensor modifications done."  
  
"Aye." Scotty put the tablet down and took a drink of coffee. "So, when dae we play hosts tae those... _gentlemen_ again?"  
  
Jarod sighed. "Staff meeting is set for eleven hundred. Julia... Commander Andreys has already put in the order for a lunch meal to be delivered to the conference room."  
  
"Captain Lamper seemed like a decent sort, but that man Fassbinder..." Scotty shook his head. "Cannae trust 'em."  
  
"You'll get no argument from me." Jarod took a bite and looked out at the nebula. "Do you ever think of retiring?"  
  
"Aye," Scotty answered. "When my bones creak an' I'm slow risin' from bed. It's nae easy bein' an old man tryin' tae run with ye young people."  
  
Jarod chuckled at that. "But then you decide against it."  
  
"Of course." Scotty allowed himself a small smile. "Especially for a chance like this. I'll always miss th' _Enterprise_ , but th' _Aurora_... the lass is a work of art. Retirement can wait. Besides, someone has tae teach these lads and lasses what it means tae run a starship."  
  
"I don't know where we'd be without you, Scotty." Jarod's answer came with a wide smile and a nod. "Experience wins in the end, after all."  
  
"Nae all th' time, Mister Jarod," Scotty answered. But he was smiling. "But often enough."  
  
  
  
  
Julia signed in on the bridge and sighed as she settled into her chair beside Robert. "Sleep well?"  
  
"No. Dreamed of that time my grandfather took a belt to my rear for putting silly putty in the family combine," Robert said.  
  
Julia smirked. "Oooh, I remember that. You couldn't sit for a week. And I hit you too, because it was _my_ can of silly putty you ruined."  
  
Robert blanched from memory.  
  
"I've got something on short range sensors," Jarod stated, drawing everyone's attention.  
  
"Go to Code Yellow," Julia ordered. "Standby for battle stations."  
  
"Fat lot of good that's gonna do when we can't raise shields," Barnes muttered.  
  
"Any luck on that, Tom?", Robert asked.  
  
"Nope. The nebula's too dense."  
  
"On screen, Jarod."  
  
Julia's request was met immediately. The holoviewer shifted to show a single-hulled warp vessel. Its running lights were flickering and the ship was adrift. "Do we have any life signs?"  
  
"Some indications that could be, but the nebula is making scans impossible."  
  
"We'll need someone to fly up to the ship and check. Or try to beam over."  
  
Barnes shook his head. "I wouldn't do that if I were you, with how thick the gasses are going the transporter beam's going to be seriously distorted. We could try a drone or something, but that's it. And we'll have to get within five kilometers for the transporter to work."  
  
"Take us to the very extension of transporter range. Signal Lamper..."  
  
"The _Glory_ is already moving into position," Jarod confirmed.  
  
The two ships drew within the aforementioned range. "Preparing transport of drone. Transporting." Jarod waited for the report from the transporter operators to come back. "We're getting a live feed. Putting it on..."  
  
The screen showed a dark bridge chamber with the light of the probe moving over panels. "Wait." Caterina tapped something on her board. "I'm picking up a buildup in that ship's warp core! It's going into overload!"  
  
"A trap," Julia hissed. "Get us to safety!"  
  
Jarod tapped an intercom key on his board. "Scotty, what if we reversed the graviton generators on the tractor emitters?"  
  
" _What would ye... ohhhh. Good idea, Mister Jarod! Turn the tractor intae a repulsor!_ "  
  
"The ship reactor is building up, we've only got seconds!", Caterina shouted.  
  
"Jarod, now!"  
  
Jarod's finger stabbed on the control. A beam of blue energy lashed out from the tractor emitter placed on the bottom of the primary hull toward the bow. When it struck the other ship it began pushing it away, every moment adding to the speed of the other vessel. And then....  
  
The holoviewer went white as a bright light erupted from the vessel. It auto-dimmed before it became painfully blinding, but nobody was watching at that point as the ship rocked violently under them. As the rocking stopped Robert settled back into his chair, his chest aching a bit from being forced against his harness. "Damage report."  
  
"Surface damage to all decks in the direction of the blast. Having the gas that didn't combust forced against us caused some stress in the integrity support fields." Jarod looked over his reports from the ship's departments and systems. "Auto-repair systems are not engaged, the damage is minimal." His comm light went green. "Captain Lamper on audio."  
  
"Go ahead."  
  
"Aurora, _do you receive?_ "  
  
"We hear you, Captain."  
  
" _Ah, good. We took minor hull damage from the blast. It would have been worse if you had not pushed the ship away. My engineering officers are most impressed with your use of tractor systems._ "  
  
"They can give their thanks to Commander Scott and Commander Jarod," Robert replied. "This was clearly a trap and I'm betting the pirates will know someone triggered it."  
  
" _Even with Lieutenant Delgado's protocols we read no ships in our vicinity._ "  
  
Robert looked over at Cat, who shook her head. "Neither do we. They probably had an active beacon on the ship, or something nearby keeping an eye on it."  
  
" _We read no communication._ "  
  
"We didn't either," Cat said. "And even if it was a low-powered transmission to avoid detection, nebula interference would mean they couldn't read it either."  
  
"Suggestions?", Julia asked.  
  
Jarod answered first. "Give us time to examine readings, we can present them at the staff meeting."  
  
" _Agreed. I will beam over with some of my staff in thirty minutes._ "  
  
"We'll be waiting for you," Robert promised.  
  
  
  
  
The officers who came over were the same from last time but with one unexpected addition, a short and thin dark-haired brown-eyed _Leutnant_ named Kurt Rabe who seemed as nervous as Caterina as they took seats. "Our scans confirmed that there was a high-powered receiver on the ship," Jarod stated, bringing up a holo-representation of the destroyed trap vessel. As its destruction was "replayed", a spike of energy was seen in the vessel. "That's why we didn't pick up a signal. It was set to send an immediate burst transmission only microseconds before the containment field in the warp core failed."  
  
"'Warp Core', Commander?", Buhle asked quizzically.  
  
"A term for matter/anti-matter reactor very common in the Federation," Jarod clarified. "You can blame Mister Scott."  
  
"I would be most interested to learn of what other societies you have in this multiverse," Rabe said. He shrunk back in his seat when he saw Fassbinder glare at him.  
  
"A matter for another time, _Leutnant_ ," Lamper remarked sternly, though he clearly had a different concern from the SS man. "Our sensors detected no such signal."  
  
"Most of our's didn't either. Even with the power available, to carry the signal through the nebula required it to be sent through high subspace bands. It's actually an added benefit for them because most sensors wouldn't pick it up. We didn't realize we saw it until Lieutenant Delgado and I checked our readings again and found the burst." Jarod put his hands behind his back and looked down at the smiling Cat, who was beaming from the compliment and from the fact that he had agreed to give the brief. "Of course, this is an advantage for us now."  
  
"You can detect the direction of the transmission?"  
  
"Yes," Jarod answered. "We know where it was sent. And they _won't_ know that we survived the blast intact."  
  
"You don't think they could transmit our distance?", Julia asked. "If they did then they'd have to know we weren't caught in the blast."  
  
"The energy required to punch a signal through the nebula at that band of subspace is so much that all they would be able to feasibly power is a simple message, a few characters of text," Jarod explained. "Anything more and the transmission might fade before it reaches their receiver."  
  
"So we either find a chain of relays or we find their base," Robert said. "but either way, we now know where to search. Of course, I have another question for us to consider." He put his hands together. "What if they vector ships to intercept us?"  
  
"If they do that, we will take damage before we can assault their base," Lamper remarked. "Either they will be powerful enough to present a threat or they will warn we are coming. It is best if we take an indirect route."  
  
Caterina blinked. "Well, W..Why wouldn't they do that too?"  
  
"Easier to follow whatever relay system they have set up...."  
  
The far door to the ship's turbolift system opened, interrupting Julia. Two figures dressed in the lounge servers' suits came out with a push tray full of dishes, with Hargert following with his own smaller cart. The older man looked dour in his plain gray suit and did not have the customary smile the _Aurora_ crew knew him for. He was silent as they put the carts into position and began putting dishes on the table. They were a variety of warm foods, casseroles and stews with a variety of sausages on some plates. "I asked _Herr_ Hargert to provide a proper lunch," Robert said. "A gesture of hospitality and some familiar foods for your benefit. And, selfishly, because I still miss my grandmother's cooking."  
  
As plates were given out and foods shown, the five visitors couldn't help but notice the scowl fixed on Hargert's face. The _Aurora_ crew noticed it too. "Are you alright?", Leo asked. "Is something wrong?"  
  
Hargert gave him a thin smile. "You could say that, _Doktor_ ," he remarked in his own accent.  
  
"If I may..." Weigle looked up from the sausages he was retrieving from the plate. "There was a family of Hargerts beside my parents' home, in Köln. Would you happen to be..."  
  
"No," Hargert said curtly.  
  
"Hargert...." Julia looked at him with concern.  
  
"I will be fine, _Fraulein_ , as soon as I depart this room," Hargert assured her.  
  
Most of the visiting Reich officers were more perplexed than anything, but there was clear irritation on Fassbinder's face. "You hate us," he grumbled.  
  
All eyes turned toward Hargert, who said nothing as he sat a container of rice pudding on the table.  
  
"Look at me!", Fassbinder demanded.  
  
Hargert continued to ignore him, going for another dish.  
  
With his face turning red, Fassbinder stood from his chair and moved around Lamper to confront Hargert. " _Sturmbannführer_!", Lamper called out.  
  
"Look at me, old man!"  
  
Hargert continued to ignore him, but Fassbinder pushed the cart hard enough that it struck the wall toward the head of the table, causing the remaining dishes to softly clatter. He stood between Hargert and kept getting in his way. Lamper shouted, " _Sturmbannführer_ , cease this at once!"  
  
"I can see the disgust burning in your eyes," Fassbinder growled. "Why?! I am _Schutzstaffel!_ "  
  
"I _know_ ," Hargert rasped.  
  
"Then you know what I represent!" As Hargert repeated the prior answer, Fassbinder cut him off. "I am sworn to uphold the virtues and integrity of the German People! _All_ Germans, even you, I serve _you_!"  
  
"No you _don't_ ," Hargert responded with a rage in his voice the _Aurora_ crew had never heard. "You represent nothing but a perversion of the German nation, a disgrace! You and your _filth_ are the shame we can never wash away. Your crimes, your death camps, your slaughter.... you think we would side with you? _Nie weider!_ " Hargert looked past Fassbinder, who had only turned more purple, and asked Robert, "Captain, I would like to leave. Olujwe and Hasters can finish providing the lunch."  
  
"Sure, Hargert," Robert said in a low tone. "Go ahead."  
  
"Thank you, Captain." Hargert glared at the enraged Fassbinder and walked to the turbolift.  
  
Fassbinder followed Hargert to the turbolift. "You vile old traitor! You lost the war, didn't you?! You proved yourself unworthy of the First Fuehrer and now you blame him for your failure! You didn't fight hard enough! You didn't sacrifice enough! You gave up on your Fatherland and you let the lesser races and the mongrel nations they ruled castrate you and pollute your blood! We will not be treated like this, old _gelding_! We will not be insulted by you!"  
  
Hargert did nothing but sneer as the turbolift closed on him.  
  
" _Sturmbannführer, sit down!_ " Lamper rose from his chair. "You are disgracing yourself."  
  
For a moment Fassbinder stared at the turbolift door. When he turned around the purple had begun to fade from his face and his expression had become controlled, or frankly wooden. " _Jawohl, Kapitan_ ," he responded briskly, returning in measured steps to his chair and sitting in it. He did not touch the food.  
  
"My apologies for the _Sturmbannführer_ 's conduct, Captain," Lamper said.  
  
"I accept his apology, yes," Robert answered.  
  
Everyone was quiet as they began the lunch.  
  
  
  
  
When the lunch was over and the following meeting concluded, Caterina headed for the door leading to the bridge when she was intercepted by one of the Reich officers. She looked at him with trepidation, unsettled and her customary shyness growing in potency due to how much she really didn't want to be near him. "You're... Rabe, right?"  
  
"Lieutenant Rabe, yes," the young sensorman replied. "I wanted you to know, Lieutenant, that I found your protocols for deeper subspace scanning to be brilliant. I've never seen such a thing done before. I am honored to have worked with you."  
  
"Well, uh..." Caterina swallowed. A small smile forced itself onto her face. "Okay. Okay, thank you. Thank you for that." She held out a hand. Rabe eyed it for a moment and took it, giving her a simple handshake.  
  
Both became aware of a looming presence and turned to see Fassbinder glaring at them. Rabe pulled his hand back quickly and gulped. He marched past the SS man briskly and joined Weigle and Buhle as they headed to the turbolift. Fassbinder watched him go and looked back to Caterina, who eyed him warily. The scowl on his face was still there, but it turned into a smirk as he turned away.  
  
  
  
  
On the other side of the conference room, Lamper looked quietly out at the nebula. "Your grandmother... she felt the same way about the Reich, yes?", he asked Robert.  
  
"She did." Robert nodded. "But she liked to talk about people who weren't involved in the activities of the regime. She talked about Oskar Schindler and John Rabe and other Germans who opposed Hitler or protected innocent people."  
  
"Just as we would villify them." Lamper drew in a breath. "I do not know what life is like for the Germans of other worlds. To think that they would hate me for what I do.... I am not Fassbinder, I cannot simply dismiss them as failures and traitors. And I do not think I would have the heart to draw my sword on countrymen, even those of another cosmos."  
  
"Hopefully it won't come to that." Even as the words left his mouth Robert found them completely naive.  
  
The look on the older captain's face made it clear he understood the sincerity of the words and just how wrong they'd turn out to be. "You are kind, Captain." Lamper reached over to the table and put his officer cap back on. "I will be returning to my vessel. We'll follow the recommended course and see how far we must go before we find the pirate _schwein_."  
  
"We'll call if we see anything."  
  
"Yes." He nodded respectfully and joined his officers in departing.  
  
  
  
  
There was quiet in the kitchen that served the Lookout. That quiet ended when there was the clatter of a dropped spoon. Hargert muttered in irritation and reached down to pick it up. As he looked up, he saw Julia standing in the entry way. "Ah, Commander," he said. "How may I help you?"  
  
"I'm sorry." Julia walked up and reached down beside him to retreive the spoon. "We didn't think of how you'd react."  
  
"It is not your fault," Hargert said to her, reaching a hand up to pat her on the shoulder. "I did not realize how I would react either. I thought... they are ancient history to me. Their crimes were so long ago..." Hargert looked distantly, past Julia. "But then I realized they are still there."  
  
"They're not your crimes," Julia pointed out.  
  
"True. But, to be German... it means we must confront what we, as a nation, have done. It's just.... we say never again, we say it.... but will it be true? Can we go mad like that again?"  
  
For a moment Julia was silent. She reached over and took the old German man's hand and stood with him. "You won't. Not with the rest of us around. Not with people like you to keep things like that from happening."  
  
Hargert accepted her assurance with a smile. "I believe you are right. Seeing them, it just gives me dark thoughts. Now, before you go, we should discuss something of great importance."  
  
Julia blinked "And that would be?"  
  
Hargert grinned and explained it, making Julia smile and laugh.  
  
  
  
  
The clock in Robert's quarters displayed 2200 ship time when he got out of his shower and made his way to his bed. He allowed a yawn and took a quick look at reports before sliding into bed. He stared at his ceiling for about a minute before turning on his side and closing his eyes.  
  
He fell asleep soon enough.  
  
There was nothing at first, just the bliss of quiet sleep. But soon he felt himself... he knew it was a dream, but it didn't feel like one. He caught flashes of images. He could see ships moving around the blackness of space, on fire, with the _Aurora_ rampaging amongst them.... he didn't recognize the shapes.  
  
More shapes. Evil-looking ones, like spiders, crossed his vision, striking at his ship. He saw the _Aurora_ impaled by purple light repeatedly until....  
  
A large number of warships bearing the Nazi swastika moved in his vision, green light erupting from their hulls as they fired... and he could see Fassbinder, an evil smirk on his face and an inhuman glow to his eyes as he looked down at a terrified teenage girl in a red and gold-trimmed vest and skirt.... and then they were gone.  
  
And then there was a gray silhouette, the sound of metal clanking, a high-pitched whir as the figure fell and a tall man in a jacket and suit smiling at him and.... it faded. It was Lamper now. But there was something wrong, he was....  
  
Darkness.  
  
"What's going on?!", Robert called out. "What is..."  
  
Suddenly he was on his knees, trying to suck in breath. His right arm felt like it was on fire and he smelled fire and smoke and dust. He looked up and stared as a single red light tracked toward him. An unearthly sound boomed from the darkness, like a trumpet being blown through a synthesizer. To his side was a figure in the darkness, just a silhouette, save for red hair bright like flame and intense green eyes. A large object - a rifle? - was in the figure's arms. An unfamiliar voice, rough and distorted through his dream, called out, "We're almost there!" and turned toward the red light.  
  
And then the red light became a beam. He could hear screams and feel scorching heat as it came up on him....  
  
....and his quarters appeared around him as Robert's eyes opened. He sat up, ramrod straight, on his bed, breathing like he'd been running for two miles. _Oh God, that was...._ As dreams went it had been short but intense, so intense, leaving his heart racing. He glanced over to see what time it was. The clock was showing 0420. With just an hour or so before he was to get up anyway, Robert groaned and got out of bed.  
  
  
  
On the other side of the deck, Meridina rose from her bed, her eyes intent on nothing. She'd _felt_ something.  
  
"I was right," she murmured to herself. "Swenya's Light, I was right."  
  
  
  
  
The command staff was in their places on the bridge to begin the morning watch. "Another day in this nebula," Robert sighed, sitting in his chair. "And with a Nazi ship beside us."  
  
"Not what I expected in life," Locarno remarked.  
  
"Tell me about it. Jarod, Cat, any sign of....?"  
  
"Nothing," was Caterina's response.  
  
"And what about..." He let the question trail off when Jarod nodded. "Okay. How far have we gone?"  
  
"We're deep enough, they've got to be somewhere around here," Julia said.  
  
There was a tone from Caterina's board. "I've got something on scanners. A subspace signature..." She turned to look at Robert. "It matches the attacker at Grodni."  
  
"And they're alone?"  
  
"Yes.... wait, no." Caterina shook her head. "I've got a few other subspace signatures."  
  
"Get me Lamper." Robert waited while the holoviewer shifted to show Lamper on his bridge, Fassbinder standing beside him. "Captain, we've got signatures on sensors."  
  
" _We have found one as well. It is clear we have found our target._ " Lamper frowned. " _They will undoubtedly discover our presence soon. We should consider our attack._ "  
  
"I have Marines ready to land on their base to take prisoners and determine more about their targets and whatever support they've gotten."  
  
" _A waste of effort,_ ," Fassbinder said dismissively. " _We simply need to destroy their base._ "  
  
" _No. I wish to find out more about these pirates myself._ " Lamper turned his head slightly. "Sturmbannführer _, prepare your men._ "  
  
Fassbinder frowned and nodded. " _Yes, Captain._ "  
  
"We'll beam if we can, but we're going to be using an internal magnetic field to interfere with any enemy attempts to transport aboard. Let us know if you get any boarders. We'll do the same."  
  
" _Agreed. I am sending my ship to battle stations now, Captain. We will be right beside you._ "  
  
Robert nodded as the communication cut. He looked to Julia, who nodded."Code Red!", she called out. "All hands to battle stations!"  
  
  
  
  
Wailing alert sounds briefly echoed in the command bridge of the _Reich's Glory_. Lamper secured himself into his chair and brought up his personal tactical display. "Time to target?"  
  
"Ten minutes from firing range, Captain," Weigle responded from the tactical station to Lamper's right. "All disruptors armed and ready. Torpedo launchers online and torpedoes loading."  
  
Fassbinder was still on the bridge for the moment. He was not in a seat, but he was securing his life support jacket. "Captain, may I remind you of the prospect we are presented with?"  
  
"I am well aware of your desires, _Sturmbannführer_. But I will not jeopardize this operation by attempting to take or destroy the _Aurora_."  
  
"Then let us hope Captain Dale has similar sentiments, Captain. If you strike first we have some hope of victory; if he strikes first, we will die."  
  
"Then we do not give him a reason to suspect duplicity on our part, Fassbinder," Lamper pointed out. "Go and get your men prepared. I will hear no more of this."  
  
"I will be sure to include your decision in my report," Fassbinder said, his voice containing the whiff of a threat in it.  
  
Lamper returned the look. "Do as you must, _Sturmbannführer_. Now, we have duties to attend to. See that they are done, or I will be mentioning your inability to complete them in _my_ report."  
  
  
  
  
The pirate vessels saw them coming in and moved into a combat formation. Robert brought up his tactical monitor. "Do we have identification on these ships?", he asked Lamper over the comm line.  
  
" _The carrier vessel is the_ Albert Stammel _, a_ Dusselmann _-class tender vessel with modifications, that would be the vessel they took from us. The two vessels beside it are old_ Berlin _-class cruiser vessels, they pose little threat. Or rather would not if we had shields._ "  
  
"Important factoid there," Angel muttered.  
  
" _I would suggest we focus on the cruisers and adjoining vessels first. Reducing enemy firepower is the most important objective._ "  
  
"Agreed. Moving into engagement range now." Robert watched the distance close to firing range, noticing the enemy converted tender was launching its fighters.  
  
"All fighters are launched," Julia confirmed from her station. "They're taking up defensive formations to screen us."  
  
"Good. At will, Angel, with target priority to combat ships."  
  
"I hear you on that. I'm locking weapons.... locked. Firing!"  
  
  
  
  
The _Aurora_ 's forward weapons blazed to life. Large pulses of blue energy lashed out across the nebula and slammed into one of the enemy cruisers. Without shields the enemy hull had to take the force entirely, losing large sections of its bow in the process. Twin lances of green energy retaliated and sliced along _Aurora_ 's bow, one beam glancing on the hull enough to scorch and the other digging into the armor that protected the ship.  
  
Torpedoes were already in flight, both ways, as the _Aurora_ 's phaser strips lashed out. Amber energy stabbed the cruisers to the right and to the left while the central ship maneuvered hard, trying to avoid the solar torpedoes flying toward it. All but one missed, the successful strike slamming into the blue ramscoop of a warp nacelle and blasting the nacelle to pieces.  
  
Fighters from both sides were racing forward, meeting halfway across the distance. Beams and pulses criss-crossed the area as the _Aurora_ 's fighter wing engaged, and the resulting combat was fast and brutal; any hit likely to cripple or destroy a fighter without shields for protection.  
  
Both cruisers were firing on _Aurora_ ; their smaller compatriots gunned for the _Reich's Glory_. The Reich cruiser fired first, solid beams of disruptor cannon fire slashing out through the nebula's red and blue color to strike the smaller ships assaulting it. But when the bow weapons fired again, it was at one of the cruisers; pulsing red torpedoes and green beams lashed into the ship as it endured another barrage from the _Aurora_ 's main guns. Further torpedoes from both ships blasted the pirate vessel to pieces.  
  
Torpedoes from the other cruiser and two of the smaller ships converged on the _Aurora_. Its interceptor mounts lashed out to stop the incoming fire, blowing up torpedoes before they could make it into range. Two got through anyway, blasting chunks of hull and armor off.  
  
The blasts sent a tremor through the ship that pulled Robert against his safety harness. "Damage?"  
  
"Hull breach in Decks 4 and 5, Section 11. Forcefields in place, armor repair systems engaged."  
  
"I'm going for that cruiser, but it looks like the smaller ships have us as their primary target," Angel reported.  
  
"Engaging evasive maneuvers," Locarno added. Under his control the _Aurora_ twisted and turned, avoiding some of the incoming fire.... but not all, given her size, and the ship continued to shift under their seats. "They're not making it easy."  
  
One of the vessels exploded, its reactor core speared from a disruptor shot by the _Reich's Glory_. Robert paid more attention to Angel's efforts to blast the cruiser to bits. "And where's that carrier?"  
  
"The tender vessel is falling back." Jarod shook his head. "I think they're heading to the base."  
  
"They might be planning to run," Robert mused.  
  
" _We are pursuing the enemy tender vessel_ ," Lamper said over their two-way tactical link.  
  
"We'll keep their attention," Robert answered. On his screen one of the light ships erupted in flame as it took several phaser hits. But there were more out there, and they were quick enough to outmaneuver the kilometer-long _Aurora_...  
  
The ship shook hard again and more hull damage appeared on the monitors. "Jarod?!"  
  
"We just took a disruptor to the upper port nacelle, but it held."  
  
"We've got one on our tail," Angel shouted. "And the pilot is slippery, I can't get a solid lock!" The ship shuddered again, harder this time.  
  
  
  
  
Lamper felt his ship shudder as a disruptor struck its bare hull. "Report!"  
  
"Hull damage to forward decks. We have lost a forward starboard disruptor," Buhle reported. "The tender vessel's rigged weapons are more powerful than they look."  
  
"Focus disruptors on them, Buhle."  
  
"Yes sir. Firing."  
  
The _Reich's Glory_ 's heavy disruptors on the bow fired. Thick beams of emerald energy slashed across the tender ship, taking out an impulse engine and sending a cloud of debris and atmosphere flying from a hull breach. "We have disruptions in their internal magnetic field, Captain," Rabe said.  
  
"Then we can engage transporters." Lamper pressed a key on his chair. " _Sturmbannführer_ Fassbinder, we are sending your men to _Stammel_. I want it recovered."  
  
" _Immediately, Captain._ Sieg Hiel _!_ "  
  
" _Sieg Hiel_ ," Lamper answered. As he waited for the transport operation to finish and for Weigle to finish disarming the _Stammel_ , he checked his tactical plot. The enemy was focusing on the _Aurora_ entirely, more intimidated of the large vessel than of his own _Sedan_ -class cruiser. One of the several remaining enemy light ships exploded from multiple hits by the _Aurora_ 's amidships emplacements, but it was being hounded on all sides. "Do we have range to engage the enemy ships attacking our ally?", he asked Weigle.  
  
"No, Captain, I am afraid the nebula's interference prevents a sufficient lock, if I fire I may strike the _Aurora_ ," he answered.  
  
_And that I simply cannot risk. You are on your own, Captain Dale._  
  
  
  
  
"There went the primary port impulsor," Jarod warned.  
  
"Lamper's out of position to help and our fighters are busy, I think it's time we played our ace," Julia said, looking to Robert. When he nodded, she looked to Jarod. "Lock onto the _Koenig_ 's IU drive."  
  
"Doing so now." After three seconds and another rumble through the ship, Jarod's console beeped. "We've got someone locking onto our IU drive."  
  
"Here goes nothing," Locarno muttered as the ship rattled again.  
  
  
  
  
The pirates had some fairly good pilots in their numbers, and one in particular was allowing his ship to batter the _Aurora_ 's dorsal hull and engine drives to give his compatriots a chance to board a crippled vessel.  
  
The _Aurora_ turned in space and the attack vessel matched it. After it did so, a point of green light appeared behind it, expanding until it formed a portal in space. The _Koenig_ emerged from the jump point. The point had not a moment to start closing before _Koenig_ 's main battery came to life. Amber energy slammed into the aft of the pesky attack ship, blasting its drive assembly to bits. It barely survived those shots, leaving it helpless as one of the phaser banks on the _Aurora_ 's dorsal hull lashed out and sliced into the vessel's engineering space, causing it to explode in a white fireball.  
  
"I could make saving your butts a habit," Zack crowed over the comm line. "Apley, next target, Attack Plan Charlie!"  
  
Lieutenant Apley's hands moved deftly over the flight controls for the _Koenig_. "Moving us into position."  
  
The arrival of the _Koenig_ sent the pirates scrambling. They'd never seen such a thing happen before, and all of the sudden they had an extra warship prowling the battlefield, going after their smallest ships and clearing them from the _Aurora_.  
  
  
  
  
Lamper watched the arrival of the small vessel and, most importantly, the wormhole that had been opened for it to arrive. "Lieutenant, could that be...?"  
  
"I registered a major neutrino surge, sir, but the nebula's interference kept me from getting an accurate scan," Rabe answered. "All I can say is that it was a wormhole of some sort."  
  
"Their IU drive," Lamper murmured. "Make sure you compile all of our data on it, Lieutenant. I must report it to the OKW as soon as possible."  
  
" _Jawohl_."  
  
Lamper watched the newcomer engaging and had to admit the vessel was formidable. It reminded him of a _Doenitz_ -class strike vessel, the successor to the legendary _Unterseeboot_ ships that had starved the English in the Great Wars. It certainly had the shark-like quality he expected of such vessels. "These Alliance people are very formidable," Lamper said softly, mostly talking to himself. "The Reich must know more about their capabilities."  
  
  
  
  
Another blow made the _Aurora_ shake. "Hull breaches on Decks 10, 12, 15, 20, and 28 through 32, mid-hull sections," Jarod reported.  
  
"We're giving the armor repair systems a Goddamned insane stress test," Barnes muttered from the Engineering station. "Effectiveness is actually dropping below 80%, there's so much hull to patch up!"  
  
"Tom, when this is over, find out a way for us to raise shields in a nebula," Julia ordered.  
  
"Will do."  
  
Robert was more focused on the remaining cruiser. "The _Koenig_ is taking care of their lighter ships, time to focus on that cruiser."  
  
"As soon as Nick brings us back around, I'm going to tear it apart."  
  
"Getting you that shot, Lieutenant," Locarno promised.  
  
The _Aurora_ came about. As she did so, phaser fire from her strips and pulse cannon emplacements hammered at the enemy cruiser, blasting through several decks. The enemy ship's torpedoes blew out another section of the primary hull and damaged more armor with a disruptor blast. A second green bolt sliced across one of the phaser banks and silenced it.  
  
But the gesture was defiant more than it was effective. Locarno finished the turn and Angel locked on with the forward cannons. The battering impacts of the blue cannon pulses quickly overwhelmed the older ship's hull and began tearing into its internals, with phaser beams and cannon fire expanding the damage zone. The spread of solar torpedoes Angel put into the remaining cruiser as an afterthought finished off what was left.  
  
"The pirate vessels are breaking away from the fight," Jarod said.  
  
Robert keyed the tactical comms to bring _Koenig_ into his link with Lamper. Mindful that they weren't on two-way, he reverted to formal address. "Commander Carrey, can you finish off the stragglers?"  
  
" _Consider them finished_ ," Zack answered.  
  
"We'll detail fighters to assist." Robert looked at Julia and the tactical display. "How are they?"  
  
"We've lost seven so far with a dozen badly damaged," Julia answered. "The enemy fighters are almost eliminated."  
  
"Have a squadron break off and support _Koenig_. Locarno, bring us in to that base." Robert keyed the tac comm again. "Captain Lamper, I'm going to commence transporting Marines to the enemy base."  
  
" _Very well. I have already sent my vessel's SS detachment to board the tender and secure it. My officers suspect the vessel's crew is being held aboard the base._ "  
  
"Commander Kane and his Marines will recover them, Captain." Robert left the channel open and asked, "Mister Barnes, time to transporter range?"  
  
"Thirty seconds and I can start to get locks."  
  
"Good. Make sure..."  
  
"The base's core!" Caterina's voice went up a pitch from excitement. "Captain, the core is destabilizing! It's going critical!"  
  
"Barnes!"  
  
"I'm trying! I'm locking onto whatever signals I can...."  
  
On the screen, the pirate base - which looked like cobbled together modules forming a pair of cylinders linked by modular chains - had an explosion ripple out from the middle linking chain. Another explosion erupted from the right cylinder, and then the left, and the chain of explosions soon engulfed the entire base. When they receded almost nothing was left.  
  
Robert looked over to Barnes. "Tom?", he asked, forgetting himself for the moment.  
  
Barnes looked up from his screen with a somber expression. He shook his head. "I couldn't get a lock through the nebula's interference, we weren't close enough."  
  
"Damn." Robert's heart fell into his stomach. "Captain Lamper, I'm sorry..."  
  
" _I understand. You tried, Captain._." There was a pause. " _We are showing no more hostile contacts._ "  
  
Robert looked to Jarod, who chook his head. "Nor are we. Do you need help taking the _Stammel_?"  
  
" _No._ Sturmbannführer _Fassbinder is reporting that resistance has ceased. We have control._ "  
  
"That's good to hear. We're launching craft to see if we can find any survivors just in case and to recover our ejected pilots. We can have a final meeting in three hours to discuss our findings."  
  
" _Agreed. Lamper out._ "  
  
Robert closed the tactical comm line. "Send a tight-beam to Zack, tell him not to dock just yet."  
  
"You think Lamper will attack us?", Julia asked.  
  
"No, but better safe than sorry. Having _Koenig_ present and visible keeps things honest and removes temptation."  
  
"For them, anyway," Locarno pointed out. "If we wanted to do something...."  
  
Robert shook his head. "No."  
  
"Do you really buy that the pirates just so happen to blow up their base but not their ship?", Angel asked, an edge to her voice. "For all we know they weren't pirates at all, just Nazis pretending to be to attack us."  
  
"She has a point," Barnes remarked.  
  
Julia shook her head. "Honestly, given our shape I wouldn't want to start a fight even if we would win."  
  
"Besides, I'm betting Lamper called home like we did. If we come out and he didn't..." Robert shook his head. "I'm not taking that risk. Lamper has done nothing to make us suspect him. Keep an eye on things, but we're not starting a fight."  
  
"Yes sir." Angel sounded far more disappointed than she should have been.  
  
  
  
_Ship's Log: 8 March 2641; ASV Aurora. Captain Robert Dale recording. The crew continues to make repairs to the_ Aurora _following the battle. I am sorry to report that we lost five pilots and ten crew in total from the fight. I'm not sure how many Lamper lost, but I'm already certain we won't be holding a joint service this time.  
  
Captain Lamper and select members of his command staff have beamed back over for a final meeting to speak of the battle's results. Angel's point that this could have been a scheme, that the pirates were Nazis too, is one I can't get out of my head, but everything I see tells me Lamper is sincere. I can't let suspicion color this meeting. As much as we hate them, we cannot afford conflict with the Reich right now._  
  
The two groups of officers were quick to finish the meeting. Robert felt at unease the entire time and realized it was because _everyone_ was uneasy. Undoubtedly the _Koenig_ 's presence made Lamper's people scared he might attack them; on his side, Angel's argument of this being one big scheme that Robert and the crew had fell for had found fertile ground.  
  
"From our review of _Stammel_ 's computers the pirates have no other ships out at the moment," Buhle informed the assembled. "Even if there was a vessel or two, without their base they are vulnerable. They will be forced to cease their activity or flee the area."  
  
"So that's it?", Angel asked, an edge to her voice. "The threat's over? Everything is hunky dory?"  
  
"'Hunky dory'?", Weigle asked in confusion.  
  
" _Untermensch_ babble," Fassbinder muttered.  
  
By this point nobody was looking toward him for it, save Robert. In his case, he couldn't get his dream out of his head. Something about Fassbinder was really starting to set him on edge. "It would appear so," he forced himself to say, breaking the silence. He stood up. "I thank you gentlemen for your time." He ignored the dirty look Angel shot toward him. "Our mission was a success. It's probably best if we get out of the nebula and re-establish contact with our superiors to reassure them of what's happened."  
  
"It has been an honor working with you, Captain Dale." Lamper had a thin smile on his face. "Your crew is imaginative and brave. Your Alliance is fortunate to have such defenders." He rose to his feet, as did the others. "Good fortune to you, Captain."  
  
"And to you, Captain." Robert rose with them. "Our cooperation can provide the basis, I hope, for a policy of peace between our governments."  
  
Lamper's smile never wavered. "A noble sentiment, Captain. God grant us that it comes true."  
  
Robert matched his smile. Everyone stood and filed out.  
  
Rabe stood back for a moment, letting Fassbinder move on to the turbolift, and approached Caterina. "Lieutenant Delgado." He extended a hand. "It has been a pleasure to work with you, Lieutenant. Please, stay safe. A mind as brilliant as your's enriches us all."  
  
Caterina was lost for words, but she did take his hand. "Uh... th... thank you, Lieutenant Rabe. It's be... been a pleasure." Caterina kept her eyes focused on Rabe's soft brown eyes and not the regalia of his uniform, with the eagle and swastika on one breast or the swastika armband. _I'm shaking hands with a Nazi!_ , was her thought, even if she found Rabe to be very nice.  
  
"Safe travels, Lieutenant." Rabe gave her a smile and continued.  
  
  
  
  
Lamper remained in the turbolift with Robert as the others filed out, waiting for the doors to close and give them privacy. "You have something to say, Captain?," Robert asked.  
  
"You are very kind to speak such lies," Lamper began. "It eased the fears of our crews. But I think you know the truth as much as I do."  
  
"I believe so," Robert agreed, his heart feeling heavy as he did so.  
  
"You know in your heart the fate that is in store for us."  
  
"I do." Robert's words were hoarse, as was the breath. "I dread it though."  
  
"Yes." Lamper's eyes were full of sorrow, bright only with unshed tears for the suffering that was to come. "As an officer of the Reich and a man of Aryan blood, I am supposed to look forward to battle with an enemy. And that is all your Alliance and the Reich can be, Captain Dale. There is no hope of peaceful co-existence. We are your nightmare and you are our's."  
  
"I know."  
  
"Then you know that the next time you and I meet, it will be as enemies on the field of battle. I will not shirk from my duty to the Reich, but..... I will take no pleasure in that day."  
  
For a moment Robert said nothing. Even here his stomach spun in disgust at the swastika insignia on Lamper's uniform and armband, yet more proof of how true Lamper was. "I can't take pleasure in war. It's not in my nature," he said. "But whatever I feel about the nation and movement you represent, Captain Lamper..." Robert pulled in a breath. "I see you as a good man. You didn't get to pick the universe you were born in. All I can say is that I am sorry."  
  
Lamper acknowledged him with a nod, but he said nothing else. Nothing needed to be said. He nodded in a silent salute, put his cover back on his head, and went to join his officers to depart for their ship.  
  
  
  
  
When Robert returned to the bridge everyone was at stations. "Scotty says we have another five hours before he gets the impulsors back up to full," Barnes said. "Until then we're going to be limited to point seven five impulse."  
  
"Set a course back to Alliance space, Mister Locarno, best speed," Robert said, getting into his command chair. "Jarod... keep an eye on them. Let me know if I'm wrong about Lamper."  
  
"Yes sir."  
  
Robert settled back into his chair and looked over at Julia, who was examining a damage report summary. "Did you ever expect something like this when we came out here, Julie?"  
  
She looked at him and shook her head. "Not at all. It's weird and scary at the same time. Nazis, for Christ's sake. And we had them here, _on our ship_."  
  
"Yeah." Robert drew in a breath. "Hard to hate them as much when you meet a few people and they seem like good ones, though. That's what's so insidious about those kinds of movements."  
  
"You won't find disagreement here." Julia handed him the tablet. "Final damage report, it's for you to sign off on."  
  
"Oh, paperwork." He smirked as he took the tablet. "So there is worse than Space Nazis. Give me Fassbinder over this any day," he joked.  
  
Julia smiled and chook her head. "No whining on bridge watch, sir. It looks bad to the crew."  
  
"Yes, mother."  
  
  
  
  
Lamper had just returned to his ship to find an unexpected sight. Fassbinder was with another man, one showing a battle injury, and in an SS uniform with the rank insignia of a _Hauptsturmführer_. Said man saluted stiffly; like Fassbinder he was blond-haired, blue-eyed, and looked very fit. _All SS do. Genetic engineering to maintain racial purity, because the Master Race's natural superiority isn't as superior as they like to think_ , Lamper thought defiantly. Such thoughts would cost him his career if they got out, of course, but years of service in the _Raumskriegsmarine_ had bred some skepticism into him about the Party and their SS guardians.  
  
More importantly, though, was the fact that the man was still in restraints. Or rather was in them until Fassbinder removed them. "What's going on, Fassbinder?", Lamper asked.  
  
"Captain, this is _Hauptsturmführer_ Ludwig Vogts. He is the commander of the _Stammel_."  
  
Lamper remained silent. And he put everything together in his mind. "This was all an SS trick."  
  
"The Fuehrer wished to have a reason to rally ships to this area," Fassbinder said. "To prepare for our campaign against the blue beasts and other species that pollute our frontiers. _Hauptsturmführer_ Vogts provided that reason. When we discovered the existence of the Alliance his role was... _expanded_." A grin crossed the SS man's face. "Please put this in your report. The SS has decided it is time the OKW learned of our operations here, in preparation for the coming war."  
  
"How many of our people did you kill for this?", Lamper asked quietly.  
  
"They are all martyrs of the Reich, Captain," Fassbinder said coldly. "Do not be overly concerned. Our lives are all forfeit to the will of the Fuehrer."  
  
"Heaven hope their deaths are not in vain."  
  
Fassbinder ignored him. "You still have a chance, Captain, to fulfill my request. The _Stammel_ is mostly intact, and our damage is not as severe as the _Aurora_ 's. Their backs are turned. A single volley to their drives and they would never escape us."  
  
"The other vessel could, however," Lamper reminded him.  
  
"You think those sentimental weaklings would leave their friends to death or capture?", Fassbinder asked, contempt dripping in his voice.  
  
"No, _Sturmbannführer_ , I believe that Captain Dale would order Commander Carrey to get out of the nebula to warn the Alliance of our treachery," Lamper retorted. "That is presuming they cannot activate their IU drives in this nebula. And we have already seen them do so."  
  
"One way," Fassbinder retorted. "And in the end, what does it matter if the other vessel escapes. You know war is coming between the Reich and the Alliance, Captain. Why wait?"  
  
"Because you are asking me to risk my crews' lives on a foolish gamble fueled by your ambition and not the needs of the Reich and the Fuehrer. Because the Reich needs time to prepare for an interstellar war against a power like the Alliance."  
  
"You do not have faith in the power of the Aryan Race to prevail, Captain?"  
  
"No, I simply understand the threat we face. The Reich must prepare to defend itself, Fassbinder. It needs _time_." Lamper shook his head. "I am not firing. My crew will not fire. We are returning to Reich space, and that is _all_."  
  
"Your caution is unworthy of your rank," Fassbinder hissed. But he said nothing more as Lamper left.  
  
Vogts looked to him. "Why are you so obsessed with attacking this ' _Aurora_ ', _Sturmbannführer_?"  
  
"I have... a feeling, Vogts." Fassbinder smiled. "Since I saw that ship I knew that my time had come. Somehow, someway, the _Aurora_ is the key to my future. And I mean to have it."  
  
  
  
  
The _Aurora_ and _Koenig_ continued on their course out of the nebula in silence. Aboard _Aurora_ the battle damage was being steadily repaired while preparations were made for honoring the fallen.  
  
Fresh from their bridge watch together, Angel led Caterina through the ship's forward corridors. "You really don't have to do this, Angel," Cat insisted. "We can have dinner in my quarters."  
  
"Stop fussing, little sister," Angel said in her "I am reproaching you" tone of voice. "You didn't get to finish your party. The least I can do for you is give you a birthday dinner."  
  
"Fine," Cat sighed.  
  
"Admit it." Angel smiled. "You just want to go back to reading those logs Scotty got for you."  
  
Cat blushed. "There's so many of them! The _Enterprise_ was, like, it was this _magnet_ for phenomena!"  
  
"It'll be there tomorrow." Angel's smile turned mischievous. "Or is this about that Nazi who was buttering you up?"  
  
Caterina looked both embarrassed and mortified. "He was just being nice..." A confused look crossed her face. "A Nazi was being nice. I thought Nazis were supposed to be mean? I mean, we're not German-style Aryans, right? Our family is from Mexico, we can't be Aryans. Why would he be nice to me?"  
  
"I had the feeling he wasn't a model Nazi. He probably is as much a geek as you are, Cat." Angel stopped as they got to the port entrance to the Lookout lounge. "After you birthday girl."  
  
Cat walked by her. Her third step activated the sliding door's proximity sensor, and two steps later....  
  
" _ **SURPRISE!!!!**_ "  
  
The shout echoed down through the corridor. Angel entered behind her awestruck sister to see who had made it. Virtually everyone had; the main command staff of both ships, Commander Kane, and some of the other ranking science officers were present, as were the few civilian scientists assigned as advisors to the ship. Hargert and Julia stood together by the table, the elderly German host putting a final touch to his painstaking recreation of the birthday cake while Julia lit the "2" and the "1" candles. "Caterina, my dear girl," Hargert said with a wide smile. "Happy Birthday!"  
  
"But... but..."  
  
Scotty shook his head. "Now lass, we cudnae let those pirates ruin yer birthday party, cud we?"  
  
"Yeah!" Barnes raised a glass. "Three more cheers for the birthday girl!"  
  
Caterina blushed deeply as she got the cheers.  
  
  
  
  
 **Tag**  
  
  
  
They were finally out of the nebula, and Scotty was preparing to go to bed for the day. Repair reports moved over his tablet as he read them and confirmed them, ensuring Lieutenant Nesay would know what was expected of Gamma Shift. He was interrupted by the chime at his door. When he stepped up to it and prompted it to open Jarod was standing there, a bottle in his hand. "Ah, Mister Jarod?"  
  
"I figured it was time for us to share that drink," Jarod answered. "Hargert let me into his drink cabinet, I found what I think is some very good Scotch."  
  
Scotty moved and allowed the younger man into his quarters. He retrieved two glasses from the replicator and set them on his table. Jarod began pouring the contents of the bottle into them. "So, hell of a thing, huh? Nazis, I mean."  
  
"Aye.... wish I could say it's new for me."  
  
Jarod looked at him with surprise. "You've met Nazis before?"  
  
"Well... nae like these scunners," Scotty admitted. "It's one of th' missions we went on back on th' _Enterprise_." Scotty took up his glass and drank from it. A pleasant look came to his face. "Oh! This is great stuff, I'll have tae speak tae Mister Hargert about where he got it from."  
  
"I tried. He called it a secret." Jarod smirked and took a drink himself. "Oh.... I think I see the appeal now."  
  
"Ye havenae lived, Mister Jarod, until ye've enjoyed a fine Scotch," Scotty insisted.  
  
Jarod poured more and they each took smaller drinks this time, letting them savor the contents of their glasses more. "So...."  
  
"Aye?"  
  
Jarod smiled. "Meeting Nazis on the _Enterprise_."  
  
"Oh! Yes. See, there was this daft historian by th' name of John Gill who was sent tae th' planet Ekos as a cultural observer..."  
  
  
  
  
"I am certain, _Mastrash_."  
  
Ledosh's image remained still on Meridina's screen. " _You felt him have a vision?_ "  
  
"A dream state vision, yes. His life force was clearly tapping the talent. I _know_ this." Meridina's voice was almost urgent. "And before, he caused a mental bond I had created to strengthen...."  
  
" _Yes, I saw your report on that._ " Ledosh remained quiet for a moment. " _What request do you wish to make of me?_ "  
  
"I wish to approach him about it. He knows about _swevyra_. He will be receptive."  
  
" _Request denied_."  
  
"But..."  
  
" _Meridina, please._ " Ledosh sighed. " _Karesl has been making maneuvers amongst the Council. He is crafting an isolationist movement. We cannot give him and those who doubt the Prophecy of the Dawn any more chances to sway the others. Otherwise.... you would likely be recalled and disgraced, and our involvement with the Alliance would decline heavily. And with these 'Nazis' existing, the Alliance needs us now more than ever. For now, you_ must _allow things to develop on their own. Let him come to realize what he has. Only then can you approach Robert Dale and offer to train him._ Only then _. Do you understand?_ "  
  
Meridina sighed in disappointment. "Yes, _Mastrash_. I understand. And the same with...?"  
  
" _Yes. The same with her._ "  
  
"I will do as you instruct then, _Mastrash_."  
  
" _Thank you. It is for the best._ Mi rake sa swevyra iso, _Meridina._ "  
  
" _Mi rake sa swevyra iso_ , _Mastrash_ Ledosh."  
  
  
  
  
Robert let out a yawn and put his uniform jacket up, standing alone in the red command branch undershirt that was part of the standard uniform design. He walked toward his bed for a moment and stopped as he went to sit down. There was a chirp over the intercom, causing him to reach to where he'd put his multidevice on the nightstand. "Dale here."  
  
" _We have a subspace signal for you from Admiral Lithgon._ "  
  
"Put him through." Robert stood, keeping his spine as straight as he could as Lithgon appeared on his wall-mounted screen. "Admiral."  
  
" _Captain. I've read your report. Good work in subduing that pirate band._ " Lithgon's expression belied something more on his mind, however. " _I'm cancelling your survey operation. You will report to the Capital Fleet Base for repair, under Admiral Maran's orders._ "  
  
"Very well, sir." Robert swallowed. "What about the Reich? Has anything else developed?"  
  
" _Nothing. We've sent subspace signals offering to establish diplomatic relations, but they're being quiet about it. Too quiet. Thankfully, I'm getting the Fourth Fleet by the end of the month, we should be able to hold the line with their help._ "  
  
"We'll need more than one fleet," Robert mused.  
  
" _I agree. But for now that's what we have to settle on. Besides, the_ Liberty _is the biggest dreadnought-class starship in the Alliance, with a good fleet around her we'll give the Nazis pause._ " Lithgon cracked a confident smile. " _Good luck, Captain Dale. I hope to see you back sometime, so long as you're not here to fight a war._ "  
  
"God help us prevent that from happening," Robert said. "Take care, Admiral. Dale out." He reached to his multidevice and ended the call. The torch insignia of the Allied Systems appeared briefly before the screen went blank. Robert finished removing his uniform. He laid on his back, hands on his belly, and stared at the ceiling as he waited for sleep to claim him.  
  
He almost didn't want to go to sleep. His dreams had been getting vivid these past couple of days, especially that night when they were still in the nebula. Figures and ships he didn't recognize, and people he did recognize but in ways that left him full of dread.  
  
"God, please? One night without bad dreams like that? Can't I just dream about my family again? Or Angel? Anything but those dreams again....." Robert felt sleep tug at his eyelids until they were fully closed. He rolled under his sheets and felt the softness of his bed under his ribs as his head settled into the pillow.  
  
It was about that time that sleep claimed him. The dreams came afterward.  
  
They were dreams of fire and death.  
  
And deep in his heart, Robert knew they were dreams of the war that was to come.


End file.
